[stylist] Workshopping: Lucy and Lithe Chapter 8

[Miss Thea]

Just to put you back in the story, I’ve added the last scene from Chapter 7.



When Lucy woke, she was in a hospital of some sort. "Mommy? Daddy? Kimmy?"

A stranger smiled at her as he walked into the room. "You're awake. I'm Dr. Kelley, ship's medical officer. You can call me Dr. Dave, all right? Can I call you Lucy?"

"Dr. Dave, where are my parents?"

He looked away.

"You're a mass of broken bones, Lucy. How's your pain?"

"It's bad."

He gave her a shot of morphine. This time, it didn't hurt.

"You know, sweetheart, we're going to have to get in a fresh supply of morphine soon. We've got a special bunch of Afghani poppy farmers aboard, just to grow opium poppies for you."

The chemical warmth had a hold of Lucy. A fur blanket in a needle, she thought, as it tried to pull her down into blissful sleep. 

No! She pushed up.

"Dr. Dave, where are my father and mother?" She waited. No answer. "... My folks! My ... progenitors! Where are they?"

He sighed. "They … they went to Heaven, to watch over you."

"They died?" Lucy sobbed while the doctor looked on helplessly.

"I'm sorry. The captain told me not to tell you. Not while we're still trying to patch you up."

"And Kimmy? She’s my new sister. Dad and Mom took her away from that jerk. Where is Kimmy?” She glared at the doctor.  

He spoke slowly. "She's with God."

Lucy swore. "I hope I die soon."

"Now, that's no attitude." He gave her a game smile.

She gave him every bad word she'd ever heard.

"I don't have to listen to that." He walked out.

She got out one last swear word before the morphine took her.

Dr. David Lock sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. Not that he’d expected it to be. But what about the Andorphians? They would never understand this angry little girl. Lacking that understanding, what would they do to her?



Chapter 8

Hey, Little Devil …



"How are we doing?" Captain James asked.

"I'm no psychologist, sir. I said something I thought would cheer her up, or help, and all I got was a spitting, swearing eight-year-old."

“I don’t have children, doctor, but I’d expect any parent would have raised their little girl better than that. I won’t tolerate that kind of language on this ship, understand?”

The doctor nodded. “May I speak candidly, sir?”

The captain gave a terse nod.

“This kid’s not ready for Andorpha. She’s had virtually no childhood, living on Earth. She’s just lost her parents and best friend. I, uh, tried to obey your order, sir, but the child saw through me. She knows.”

“I thought I told you not to tell the child.” The captain’s mouth thinned into a disapproving line.

“Sir, even under sedation, the child knew. All those broken bones, and all she wants to know is where are her parents and friend. She called the Carson child her sister. She’s got sharp eyes and an even sharper mind. She has no respect for grownup euphemisms or evasions.”

“Sounds like she’s got no respect at all.”

The doctor left it at that. Captain James wasn’t one to change his opinions just because his chief medical officer thought otherwise. “Sir, I’m concerned that the child’s attitudes and experiences are so far removed from Andorpha, that it might do her more harm than good to send her there. May I suggest an Earth rehab colony? At least for a few months. Those colonies are set up to help in cases like this. The Andorphians, once they realize how violent Lucy’s anger is … well, sir, I’ve been to Andorpha. They’re partially xenophobic. I’ve never heard of them taking in anyone, much less sight unseen. They won’t understand when she lashes out when they’re trying to love on her. They’ll see her as a wounded lamb to be comforted, when she is, in fact, an abused pitt bull.”

“So, who is this Lucinda Smith? I was paid a lot of money to get her to Andorpha. Somebody Talbott. I never saw who paid me, just opened an envelope with orders from the Tagh Alliance, and more money than I’ve ever seen.”

“The Tagh?”

“I understand your astonishment, doctor. The Tagh are among the most hateful and ugly creatures in the galaxy—everything the Andorphian is not. And I don’t know any Tagh named Talbott. More than that, I don’t know any Tagh that cared for anything but conquest. Who is this Lucy to the Tagh?” The captain steepled his fingers. “

“Don’t know, sir. She’s too young to be a collaborator, and the Tagh don’t usually protect cave-ins or dupes. They use them and kill them.”

“If she’s smart as all that, she ain’t too young. Find out who she is, doctor, and who she is to the Tagh.”

“She was my teacher,” Lucy ate Jell-O in bed, while Doc sat next to her. “She taught grade three. She was blind, and had a guide dog, Nipper. She was also my teacher during grade one and two. When kids tried to trick her because she was blind, I got real pissed off and tried to protect her.”

“Why?”

“Doc, you don’t take advantage of the blind. That’s stupid.”

“I agree. How did you come to that conclusion? How did you come to think it was stupid? Do you have family or friends that are disabled?”

“No. I had good parents.” Tears washed her face. She hunched, and would say no more that afternoon.

When her face contorted with pain, he gave her a shot and reported to his captain, who had only one question. “Do you believe her, that she was just protecting a blind schoolteacher?”

The doctor nodded. “I do, sir.”

“On what evidence?”

“I don’t know, captain. Maybe I just like the kid. There’s something soft about her, under all that tough talk. She’s just a scared, angry kid who’s lost everything.”

“Doctor, unless otherwise called upon, I want you to spend all your time with Miss Lucinda Sue Smith. If I’m going to get her to Andorpha as ordered, we can’t waste fuel or time checking her into any other place.” He held up a printout. “For your eyes only, doctor.”

The doctor took the printout. “Captain,” it read, “do not detour. Do not slow your pace, but proceed directly to Andorpha with the human, Lucy Smith. The Tagh people are watching you. One aboard your ship is one of us, and has orders from me to kill you and your crew. This one will not hesitate to take whatever shape necessary to accomplish my orders. The last fool who disobeyed my orders paid a terrible price. I ordered that Lucy and all she loved were to be safely on their way before the explosion. The fool didn’t set the timer correctly, and now Lucy bears grief. You are to take care of her. You are not to scold or harm her in any way. Above all, you are not to tell her who ‘Mrs. Talbott’ really is. She knows I’m not human—a necessary evil I’m afraid. But you are to tell her nothing more, if you value your life and that of your crew.

--Saghani, Queen of the Tagh”

The doctor let out a low string of profanity.

“What was that?”

“Sorry, captain. I feel like a thousand people are walking over my grave.”

“Don’t let me hear that language again while you’re on duty, doctor.”

“Yes sir; sorry sir.”



“Hi, Doc. Can I have some more of that morphine, please? I’m aching all over.”

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to slow you down on the morphine, Lucy honey. Stuff’s addictive, you know. You’re aching because you haven’t been out of bed for weeks. Let’s get up and walk around a bit.”

Lucy found herself unsteady on her feet. “Okay, walk to me.” She did, shakily. The doctor praised her. “That’s my little angel. Tell you what I like better’n morphine. A big, thick, high, chocolate ice cream cone.”

“Yay!” Lucy cried.

“I knew you’d understand.”

That evening in the ship’s rec room, Lucy and the doctor watched movies and ate popcorn and ice cream. “Now is that better than drugs, or isn’t it?”

“I guess. I mean, I’m not hurting any more. Not my body anyway. I liked the way the morphine made me feel, like I didn’t feel sad or anything.”

He patted her hand. “You’ll feel that way again, Lucy. Only this time it will be real, and it’ll last. I’m not saying you won’t always feel sad about your folks and your friend. I’m not saying you won’t continue to have bad dreams about the sirens and the war. But you let those Andorphians love on you. I mean it. I’ve been there twice.”

“You have?”

“Indeed. When this tour of duty’s over, I’m going to apply to live there. There’s nothing sweeter than a hug from a good Andorphian woman. Cure anything that ails you even better than I can.”

“Do you have a sweetie there?”

“Well, I like a girl. She likes me.”

“Isn’t it weird to kiss a furry mouth?”

A tender smile lit the doc’s face. “At first. But once I knew I loved her, I’d kiss her lips if they were plastic.”

Lucy giggled. “Eew, gross. What’s her name?”

“Euphoria.”

“Euphoria what?”

“Euphoria Kiss.”

“Get outta town, nobody names their kid that.”

“I’m seri—“

“Doc, there’s a call for you. It’s from Andorpha,” A voice from the ship’s comm said, with more than a hint of teasing.

“Thanks cooky. That’s our head chef,” he explained to Lucy.

A sweet, red-furred face replaced the chef’s grizzled one. “Davey-kins!”

“How you doing, furry ‘Phori?”

A musical laugh filled the room. “Fine,” she said, somehow making the word sound like a feather. 

Lucy closed her eyes while the two adults talked on. She’d never heard such disgusting mush in her whole life.

“Who’s that, Davey mine? Is that your little one?”

“Nope. My kids are all grown up, remember? This is Lucinda. She’s on her way to Andorpha, to live with the Earl and Lady Dearheart.”

“Oh, my! Imagine that!” she enthused breathlessly, her ‘that’ falling soft like a feather. What was it with these Andorphians and their voices, Lucy wondered.

“Hellow there,” she addressed Lucy. Another feather. Lucy got it. It was the breathy voice and the clear, sweet way they said any word with a ‘th’ in it.

“Hellow there,” Lucy said, all too aware that she didn’t have the same magic.

“Have you met the Earl, then?”

“Not yet. They have a daughter, Lithe.”

“How lovely. Lithe is my middle name.”

“Now, Davey, you’ll have to show Miss Smith how to curtsey and address a king and queen, and all forms of nobility and royalty, since I heard that the Dearhearts are close to Their Majesties.”

After he said goodbye, the doctor turned to Lucy and said, “See why you gotta quit swearing and all that stuff you did on Earth? We only have seven weeks, and I can’t stress on you how important it is that you learn Andorphian ways, and especially their laws and customs. You’re not going to just any Andorphian family. You’re going to a noble family who regularly dine with the king and queen.”

Lucy’s eyes were round, wide, a little scared.

“There’s an ancient song,” the doctor continued. “It goes, Hey, little devil, I’m gonna make an angel outta you. That’s what we’re going to do, just like the song. Ready?”

“I’m not sure,” Lucy said.

“In that case, we better start right now.”

Thea Ramsay
Wellness Coach
Herbalife Distributor
www.GoHerbalife.com/thea-ramsay/en-CA
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